In this Middle School Journal article, Christine Finnan of the College of Charleston and South Carolina high-school teacher Dennis Kombe describe a program that sought to accelerate over-age seventh graders through two years of academic content in one year. The goal was to get these struggling students to reestablish their identity as learners and rejoin their age-mates in ninth grade. Here are the details: -Eligible students were invited to apply, but students with serious behavior and/or learning disorders were eliminated from the pool. -The Accelerated Program was located in four portable classrooms on the campus of a suburban middle school. -The program focused heavily on reading and math, which were taught in 90-minute blocks. -Students used the Read 180 computer curriculum to condense two years of material into one year. -Class size was maintained at 15, and a partner university provided extra staff and resources, including a full-time program director, enrichment activities (field trips and service-learning experiences), one-on-one tutoring, and ongoing research. -Social studies and science were taught in one 90-minute block each day. -The same teachers taught all core subjects, so there was a family-like atmosphere in the program. -A full-time counselor and the program director provided social and emotional support to students, including individual goal-setting and a Stop the Drama intervention to address interpersonal issues among some of the girls. What were the results? Finnan and Kombe say that “students began to shift their sense of self to make room for future success in school and in life.” -Attendance was strong, averaging only three absences per student. -Behavior infractions were low – only one suspension the first year of the program and zero the second. -In the first cohort, 33 of 37 students successfully completed the program and were promoted to ninth grade. -In the second cohort, 33 students entered and 33 were promoted. What happened when these students entered high school? Finnan and Kombe say that students’ “fragile identity shift was tested.” Here are some downstream results: -In the first cohort, 42% of students stayed on track and were in 11th grade three years later; 42% of this cohort were in tenth grade that year; the remaining 16% of students were still in ninth grade. -In the first cohort, 79% had no out-of-school suspensions in high school; 65% had no in-school suspensions; two students were expelled. -In the second cohort, 52% were on track as tenth graders two years later; 48% were still in ninth grade. -In the second cohort, 57% had no out-of-school suspensions and 64% had no in-school suspensions. -Due to funding cuts, the program was terminated after two years. “Although the data do not point to a dramatic transformation,” conclude Finnan and Kombe, “the Accelerated Program provided a necessary intervention for many students. Graduates of the program continue to look back to it as a golden time.” “Accelerating Struggling Students’ Learning Through Identity Redevelopment” by Christine Finnan and Dennis Kombe in Middle School Journal, March 2011 (Vol. 42, #4, p. 4-12), http://www.nmsa.org/Publications/MiddleSchoolJournal/Articles/March2011/Article3/tabid/2354/Default.aspx; the authors can be reached atfinnanc@cofc.eduand dennis_kombe@charleston.k12.sc.us. As usual, highlights & underlining is mine-- DAK
3. Accelerating Struggling Middle-School Students
In this Middle School Journal article, Christine Finnan of the College of Charleston and South Carolina high-school teacher Dennis Kombe describe a program that sought to accelerate over-age seventh graders through two years of academic content in one year. The goal was to get these struggling students to reestablish their identity as learners and rejoin their age-mates in ninth grade. Here are the details:- Eligible students were invited to apply, but students with serious behavior and/or learning disorders were eliminated from the pool.
- The Accelerated Program was located in four portable classrooms on the campus of a suburban middle school.
- The program focused heavily on reading and math, which were taught in 90-minute blocks.
- Students used the Read 180 computer curriculum to condense two years of material into one year.
- Class size was maintained at 15, and a partner university provided extra staff and resources, including a full-time program director, enrichment activities (field trips and service-learning experiences), one-on-one tutoring, and ongoing research.
- Social studies and science were taught in one 90-minute block each day.
- The same teachers taught all core subjects, so there was a family-like atmosphere in the program.
- A full-time counselor and the program director provided social and emotional support to students, including individual goal-setting and a Stop the Drama intervention to address interpersonal issues among some of the girls.
What were the results? Finnan and Kombe say that “students began to shift their sense of self to make room for future success in school and in life.”
- Attendance was strong, averaging only three absences per student.
- Behavior infractions were low – only one suspension the first year of the program and zero the second.
- In the first cohort, 33 of 37 students successfully completed the program and were promoted to ninth grade.
- In the second cohort, 33 students entered and 33 were promoted.
What happened when these students entered high school? Finnan and Kombe say that students’ “fragile identity shift was tested.” Here are some downstream results:
- In the first cohort, 42% of students stayed on track and were in 11th grade three years later; 42% of this cohort were in tenth grade that year; the remaining 16% of students were still in ninth grade.
- In the first cohort, 79% had no out-of-school suspensions in high school; 65% had no in-school suspensions; two students were expelled.
- In the second cohort, 52% were on track as tenth graders two years later; 48% were still in ninth grade.
- In the second cohort, 57% had no out-of-school suspensions and 64% had no in-school suspensions.
- Due to funding cuts, the program was terminated after two years.
“Although the data do not point to a dramatic transformation,” conclude Finnan and Kombe, “the Accelerated Program provided a necessary intervention for many students. Graduates of the program continue to look back to it as a golden time.”
“Accelerating Struggling Students’ Learning Through Identity Redevelopment” by Christine Finnan and Dennis Kombe in Middle School Journal, March 2011 (Vol. 42, #4, p. 4-12),
http://www.nmsa.org/Publications/MiddleSchoolJournal/Articles/March2011/Article3/tabid/2354/Default.aspx; the authors can be reached atfinnanc@cofc.edu and dennis_kombe@charleston.k12.sc.us.
As usual, highlights & underlining is mine-- DAK